Not all ALTs are Equal

Posted on June 26, 2007 by Backwardsfish

Not all ALTs are the same.

ALT stands for Assistant Language Teacher. They are native English speakers who are required by the Japanese Education System to be placed in all Junior High Schools throughout Japan to help the native Japanese teachers in teaching English.

There are basically two flavours of ALTs. The JETs and the non-JETs.

A JET is typically a fresh-out-of-college graduate who hasn't figured out what they want to do in life yet or an individual taking a break from a career back home. They are hired directly by the government of Japan. They go through a long and arduous application and "screening" procedure and finally arrive to Japan and get placed into their new city after a few weeks of training. Every aspect of their life in Japan is managed through the JET system so they don't really have to worry about a thing. Often their cost of living is much less than the non-JET ALT as their housing is usually subsidized as is transportation, and even meals while working in some cases. They live the Life of Riley.

Non-JET ALTs are often ex-JETs wanting to stay in the lazy ALT working position pulling a comfortable salary, but ran out of time in the three-year JET time limit. The other half are usually ex-Eikaiwa employees sick of the over-worked eikaiwa life and seeking the greener pastures they were told about by their old JET friends.

The non-JET ALTs almost always work for an agency. I call them agencies because they are no more than that. These companies will tell their employees they are education service providers, training specialists, and a whole host of marketing-concocted, hot air ideas. They're not. They are often nothing more than middle men and women. Think Jerry McGuire. They find and recruit native English speaking individuals and pair them up with various cities. They must negotiate a different contract with each city, so often, while ALTs working for the same agent doing the same work and all being TOLD they're equal are, in fact, not. I'd be happy to know the real figures, but from what I've been told by people on the inside, these agencies usually take a 30-40% "commission" off the invoice they bill the cities where their ALTs are placed.

When considering working in Japan as an ALT, keep these two variations in mind. If you have the time to apply in your home country and wait roughly a year to realize your Japan dream, the JET program is the way to go. You'll be better off.

If you're in a rush, or are already in Japan, go the agency route. Although you won't be quite as pampered as the JETs, you'll still be much better off than most conversation school teachers.